A private legal practitioner, Wahid Bampuori-Iddrisu is suggesting that the Supreme Court must be allowed to rule on the possible sale of the Agricultural Development Bank (Adb).
[contextly_sidebar id=”PHgTqRCPi5X5p0va1pf4ewr78ZnVsKXQ”]“I think that we should go to the Supreme Court on this matter, the Supreme Court should tell us what it should be,” he insisted.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently gave approval to the management of the bank to list on the stock market.
The bank is expected to offload a little over 100 million shares to the public by the end of April with the hope to give out 75% of the Bank and raise about GH¢300 million.
But, the minority in Parliament is threatening to drag the bank to court if it fails to seek Parliamentary approval.
The Ministry of Finance has however cleared the Adb to proceed with the sale saying that the sale does not require parliamentary approval.
Speaking on Citi FM’s News analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, lawyer Bampuori-Iddrisu underscored the need for the Supreme Court’s interpretation on the matter adding that “my personal opinion is that we don’t need to go to Parliament because if you look at the Adb Act, it acknowledges the authority of the Minister, it didn’t say Parliament.”
He further argued that the matter has to do “…with an IPO [Initial Public offering] and it’s not a loan, it’s an investment. I’m not an economic lawyer but I think that we have to look at it from the economic perspective and not only the legal position.”
“We’ve been sitting in Ghana hear with ADB Nigeria banks have come and overtaken all of us, why can’t we just do the right thing,” he lamented.
Commenting on the issue, the President of IMANI Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe backed the the decision by management of the bank to list on the stock market.
“On the back of the IMF deal, it’s important that we do not continue babysitting state owned enterprises that leave us with debt that you and I eventually will pay, it defeats the whole construct about it is for us so it belongs to us. What’s this business of it belongs to us mentality?”
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana